Infant Mortality Summit

Ohio's Infant Mortality Summit will take place in December

Ohio has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the country, with an average of 7.57 deaths per 1,000 births. Nationally, approximately 6.2 infants per every 1,000 births die before their first birthday . Although Ohio’s rate does not sound too much larger, it amounts to many more infant deaths. Both nationally and in Ohio, the infant mortality rate is higher for African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans than it is for whites, with their rates being 14.3 African-American and 6.2 Hispanic deaths per 1,000 live births, with the rate for whites being 6.8 deaths. One of the public health goals set by Healthy People 2020, a ten-year agenda to improve the nation’s health, is to lower the infant mortality rate to 6.0 infant deaths per 1,000 live births in every racial and ethnic group. MomsFirst, a Cleveland-based visitation program, is also striving to lower the infant mortality rate through education and supportive services designed to help mothers succeed during and after pregnancy. In order to increase awareness around infant mortality, the Ohio Department of Health is hosting an Infant Mortality Summit December 5th-6th, 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio.

The summit will cover issues such as understanding infant mortality and how everyone can play a role in addressing it. To register and find more information regarding this summit, visit the Ohio Department of Health’s website.